Wednesday, October 24, 2018

My rating: 5 stars / It was amazing* The e-book is only $3.99, such a great deal for four great stories! *

Synopsis

Harper is an event
planner with dreams of taking over the Charleston wedding scene . . .
until she meets the biggest Bridezilla of her career. She needs the job,
but the only way to keep it is to hire a temperamental chef with big
dreams of his own.

Janie is a classical cellist booked to play a
posh Charleston wedding. She’s excited to have the lucrative gig until
the groom’s brother, Emmett, shows up and asks her to help him play a
song he wrote for the happy couple. The only trouble? Emmett is her
unrequited high school crush.

Lily has been Dahlia's best friend,
partner-in-crime, and now her maid of honor . . . until suddenly
there's no wedding, and she's left to clean up Dahlia's biggest mess of
all. She's been friends with Deacon, the jilted groom, for just as long,
and it's up to her rescue him after Hurricane Dahlia blows through.

Sutton
is a photographer running from her past. Only the pleas from her best
friend to photograph her wedding could bring Sutton back to Charleston.
Her plan is to get in and get out before her ex knows she and their
daughter are in town. At least it’s the plan until she meets Max, who
turns out to be the safe place she didn’t know she was looking for.

Can each of these couples trust their growing chemistry, or are they on the verge of new disasters?

My Review

Oh my, what a great collection of stories! I try not to use this word too much, but it really is swoony! Each couple had a bit of a journey to take to finally come together, and I thoroughly enjoyed the ride for each. I loved how the four stories weave together in subtle ways, connected through the big Charleston wedding, but also stand so well on their own. I also thought the choice to have the timeline start before the wedding and finish after was smart and it kept me interested and engaged to have the majority of each story occur at a different point in time with some overlap. I seriously can't decide which one was my favorite, I loved them all equally. The personalities and circumstances of each couple are distinct and unique, but something they all share is fabulous romantic tension and amazing kissing scenes! Highly recommend to fans of sweet contemporary romance!

(I received a complimentary copy of the book; all opinions in this review are my own)

Tuesday, February 6, 2018

Greta loves her job as
assistant librarian. She loves her best friend, Will, the high school
civics teacher and debate coach. She even loves her mother despite her
obvious disappointment that Greta is still single.

Then she
meets Mac in the poetry section of the library, and she is smitten. Mac
is heart-stoppingly gorgeous and showers her with affection, poetic text
messages, and free hot chocolate at the local café where he works. The
only problem is that he seems to be a different person in his texts than
in his face-to-face conversation.

When the Franklin Library is
threatened with closure, Greta leaps into action. She arranges for a
"battle of the bands" book jam, hosts a book signing by a famous author,
and finally, stages a protest that raises more than a few eyebrows.

Through it all, she slowly realizes that it is Will, not Mac, who she
turns to for support and encouragement. Mac has the looks; Will has the
heart. How can she choose between them?

Check Me Out is a contemporary romance--with just a hint of Cyrano de Bergerac--that reminds us that it is what's on the inside that matters most.

My Review

I'm glad I kept reading to the end, because the beginning was a bit rough. I loved the aged library setting and Greta's passion for her job as a librarian. Being in her head however, was a bit of a trip. There was a lot of random information passing through her narrative that showed her personality and life and seemed like they were supposed to be sassy/snarky/quirky, but I have to admit it was rather annoying and I began skimming. Her thoughts about Mac and his hotness were so shallow... and she completely embraced that shallowness in her own thoughts on more than one occasion. Flawed and totally frustrating.

Greta has an amazing friend in Will, but because he's fat, he's stuck in the friends-only zone. She laments about how others don't give him a fair shot or the attention he deserves because of his appearance, and is self-righteously defensive of him. Hypocrite, much? Other thoughts of hers come across as judgemental, but right when I get fed up, other redeeming qualities come forth- her work in bringing local history to light by organizing and digitizing forgotten scraps, letters, and photos. Her focus on fundraising to save the library from budget cuts. Her activism in standing up for the library on social media and in other... attention-grabbing ways. Her SLOW realization that Will is supportive in all the right ways, and Mac is coming up short.

By the last third of the book I was invested in the outcome- it's obvious that Will is the words behind Mac, but the way Greta finds out was a little belated, and then it's Will who is the villain. But honestly, as much as Will is a good friend to her- is she a good friend to him? I wish the author would have made Greta more likeable by showing the ways she supports Will and is there for him in his life, besides letting him be her friend. Maybe because it's written in first person, it comes across as "the Greta show" but I don't think that's just it. The way it's written, I think she comes across as self-centered and selfish, but would never see herself that way. Even in the end, when she forgives Will and decides to "try" a romantic relationship, it's about the words he tells her, not what she feels for him.

Some other secondary characters were interesting and I think the book would have benefited from exploring them a bit more, or at least making them a bit more three-dimensional- Greta's mother, Marigold- the young hippie, Mr. Greenwood- the neighborhood hoarder, and the other librarians- Julie, Bonita, and Kevin.

(I received a complimentary copy of the book; all opinions in this review are my own)

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